What do you get when you start with a silicone sports mouthguard, embed it with hundreds of tiny bristles, and magnetize a rechargable toothpaste ball that vibrates and cleans all of your teeth at the same time? DentalBuzz recently sat down with the inventor of the new Amabrush to find out where this thing came from, where it’s going, and how to get one.

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DentalBuzz: Hi Marvin. Thanks for joining us here at DentalBuzz. What’s the story? Tell us about yourself and your company, how you got into the business of toothbrushing, where the name Amabrush came from.

Marvin Musialek:Thank you for having me! Well, my name is Marvin and I’m the founder of Amabrush, a completely redefined toothbrush. I came up with this idea 6 years ago. I brush my teeth twice a day, not because I want to, but because I have to, and this is every dentist’s advice.

Six years ago I stood in front of the bathroom-mirror as usual, and asked myself, “Why are we on the edge of self-driving cars, but we all still have to stand in front of the mirror and put a stick with nylon-bristles into our mouth, in order to clean our teeth?” Since then I thought about an autonomous cleaning-robot-thingy everyday. Three years later there was still no product like this on the market, and I simply decided to “do it on my own.” I did a lot of research and put a strong team together from many disciplines: dentists, biomedical engineers, physics engineers, electronic engineers and even a psychologist. We had to clarify even the simplest questions with a scientific approach. Why are we brushing our teeth? How should we do it correctly? How much toothpaste? What angle should the bristles have? And so forth. We have been developing Amabrush for the last 3 years and have also received grants from the Austrian Government and the European Commission. With our own money and these grants we were able to finance the cost-intensive development of numerous different prototypes, test-units, pre-production-devices and expert-consultations. Our redefined toothbrush should be seen as a stable and good friend, who takes over an annoying and time-intensive task (toothbrushing) for everyone. So we decided to call it Amabrush, so people who ask “what’s that?” will get their answer: “I’m a brush.”

DB: Since it doesn’t look like a typical brush, that’s perfect! And endearing. Kind of like the name talks back to you when you say it.

Now, you’re in Austria but also have offices in San Francisco? Before everyone in the United States gets addicted to using your brush, we want to make sure that replacements will be easily available. What percentage of your sales do you see coming to the US once you’re in the retail market?

MM: Yes that’s right. We estimate that 50% of our sales will take place in Europe, especially in German-speaking Europe (Germany/Austria/Switzerland) and the other 50% will take place in North America, especially in the United States. This coincides with our research and as well with our current subscribers, who are also equally distributed between these two regions. Because of that we want to produce Amabrush in these two different regions in the long run.

DB: You have subscribers already? For a product that they can’t even get yet? Okay, so we haven’t even talked about the toothbrush. You’re estimating that its retail price is going to be around $200. While you can’t put a price on good dental health, there have been regular electric toothbrushes in this range for years that have proven not to work any better than the $60 version of the same brand (yes, we’re talking about you, Sonicare). Explain what it is about the Amabrush that puts it far ahead of its competition, and why it is a value at $200.

MM: Yes indeed. We already got 7000 subscribers within a month, which is really, really great. That proves to us that our community is as excited as we are about a toothbrush that takes over the task of toothbrushing. There are many low-priced electric toothbrushes available, but also many high-priced ones. The cost of Amabrush is more to the mid- and high-range, but the brush itself is really high-end. We had to develop everything from scratch, like the micro-pump that foams the toothpaste, the specially formulated toothpaste itself, and the mouthpiece, which was one of the most complicated parts. Not only because we use an uncommon material (anti-bacterial silicone) with a specific toughness, but also because of the integrated, carefully arranged bristles and the micro-channels that deliver the toothpaste directly to the customers’ teeth.

DB: This has the potential to change everything we think we have to do to take care of our teeth. A silicone mouthpiece instead of a handle that you hold as you move a small brush around your mouth, brushing every tooth at the same time, Bass method bristle alignment, self-contained toothpaste, sonic vibrations. If this brush is capable of consistent and thorough plaque removal, then you may have just created the holy grail of preventive dentistry. When and where will customers get the Amabrush once they’re available to the general public?

MM: We have to explain this completely new concept of toothbrushing to people a lot. Amabrush is currently “online-only.” The simplest way for people to inform themselves about Amabrush is over the internet with our online-shop and our website. But in the long run we definitely want to bring Amabrush into grocery stores and drug stores, because the majority of people still buy personal care products “offline.”

DB: Do you see an application for people whose hand dexterity is limited?

MM: Amabrush is definitely also for people with hand disabilities. We developed Amabrush on purpose as a hands-free device, not only that it is as convenient and automatically as possible, but also that there is no barrier in order to use it.

DB: What does it feel like to use?

MM: It feels like if someone else brushes your teeth with a soft bristled toothbrush paired with the feeling of a gingival massage.

DB: So it’s sort of like having your teeth cleaned by a professional? We would imagine that would be pretty effective. What kinds of plaque index scores are you getting; in other words, how well does the Amabrush actually clean compared to manual or other electric toothbrushes?

MM: That’s true, it does a pretty good job at cleaning your teeth! We’ve had plaque index scores calculated by an independent clinical institution and have been pleased with the results. What’s worth knowing is that Amabrush is not necessarily better than a regular manual or electric toothbrush, because common toothbrushes work good enough if they are used properly. The thing is, Amabrush is way more convenient. You can do so many things wrong with a regular toothbrush, as you have to be highly concentrated for at least 120 seconds each time you brush your teeth. And while brushing, you should use different methods like the Bass method paired with the red-white technique. This is not only time-consuming, but also annoying for most people. Because of this, people usually tend to do something else while brushing their teeth. Furthermore, they put too much pressure on the toothbrush which can damage their gum. What’s more, most of the people don’t brush their teeth long enough. Amabrush cleans your teeth the same every time, with the right technique, and does not depend on your concentration.

DB: What it sounds like you’re saying is that the problem with electric toothbrushes is that manual ones are just that – they have to be moved around with your hand, so even if they’re the best at what they do, they’ll still miss areas because the human being attached to the hand doesn’t apply the brush properly. The Amabrush provides hands-free brushing at a fraction of the time? Very novel.

Back to your subscribers, then. How can subscribers order the Amabrush? How can I get one as a consumer? What do I need to do?

MM: Interested customers can subscribe to our newsletter right now on our website. We created a landing-page that explains all relevant information and details about Amabrush and the upcoming Kickstarter campaign. Speaking of which, this will be the first opportunity for our customers to get Amabrush. We will start our crowdfunding-campaign on Kickstarter next week (end of June 2017). Customers have the ability to support our project, and as a return, get Amabrush at a strongly discounted price ($69 instead of $199)!

Regarding your question what the customer needs to do: simply sign up for our newsletter on our website (www.amabrush.com). We will send a reminder with the exact date of our Kickstarter-campaign to all subscribers. When the campaign is live, simply choose a package that suits best for you. All of them are strongly discounted, as this is our way to say “Thank you” to all of our supporters and the community!

DB: Dentists and dental hygienists are particularly interested in finding new ways like yours to pass on to our patients that help them keep their mouths healthy. Do you have anything more you’d like to say to us?

MM: Our pre-production units are already in the making, in order to be shipped around the globe to various dentists. We highly appreciate feedback and input from every professional expert in order to make Amabrush as perfect as it can be. We are really looking forward to the support of our community!

DB: Thanks again, Marvin for sharing your story with us, and we sincerely hope that you get all the attention that this Kickstarter campaign deserves.

MM: We hope that too. Thank you very much for the interview and the great time!

UPDATE 6/28/2017: Amabrush announced today that the launch date for their Kickstarter campaign is next week – July 5, 2017.

UPDATE 7/5/2017: The campaign is now live, with the Amabrush expected to begin shipments in December 2017. This video shows close-up vibrations of the prototype. We imagine that the production version will be even more refined.

UPDATE 8/31/2018: It’s taken quite a bit longer than expected, but today Amabrush announced that they will start to ship brushes very soon. The best part? Their testing suggests that all the hard work means that this is a true 10-second toothbrush and not a gimmick. Here’s what came in the mail:

Many patients took part in our dental studies, which took place on 3 different dates with a minimum interval of 24 hours. The tests were performed and evaluated by independent dentists. Amabrush was tested simultaneously with two different institutions and two different sets of patients.

The TQHPI (Turesky modified Quigley Hein Plaque Index) which we used as the method determines how much plaque was present on the teeth – the lower the value, the less plaque on the teeth.

Test procedure

1.) 24 hours before the test, participants were not allowed to brush their teeth. For the plaque test, the patients chewed plaque disclosing tablets so that the dentist could then determine the initial plaque values (tablet is used to make plaque visible).

2.) Patients had to brush their teeth with a regular manual toothbrush for at least two minutes. The remaining plaque values were determined afterwards.

3.) The same process was repeated for the second appointment one week later, but this time with using the Amabrush instead of the manual toothbrush. Teeth were cleaned for just 10 seconds and the dentist determined the plaque values again.

These results make us truly proud and show us that hard work, clever engineering and patience pays off for all of us. We hope that you also like those results, which we would have never reached without your support, help, and feedback!

Images courtesy of Amabrush™ All rights reserved. This article has been written with no bias towards compensation or commissions. DentalBuzz stories run on ideas, not pay-per-clicks.

Want to know when we post a detailed review of the Amabrush once it’s available and we’ve had a chance to chomp on it? Be sure to subscribe to DentalBuzz by adding your email address and you’ll automatically get notifications each time we add a new article.

If you read Dentaltown Magazine, you may have received the edited, paper version of this article today in your snail mail box. But because I don’t have to make room for saliva ejector advertisements in the sidebar (seriously, this article helps sell SALIVA EJECTORS!) you can enjoy the original here in its more raw form.

A hygienist’s answer to “What do you do?”

by Trish Walraven RDH, BS

You’re at a gathering of acquaintances, a general hob-nobbery of casual conversing, one of those social obligations that you love/hate because you’re really more of an outgoing introvert, someone who plays well with others but enjoys their quiet, navel-gazing world too. Sooner or later you know that the question will be asked.

“So, what do you do?”

No hesitation here. You know what your profession is. You have a title, a position, a calling.

Then that inner part of your thinking begins to twitch.

You weren’t asked about your job title, actually. You were asked a direct question: What do you do?

The typical reaction of hearing that you’re a dentist or hygienist involves a full disregard of the art and compassion that you put into your profession. People want to tell you about their bad experiences as a child, or how much they hate you (but don’t take it personally!). They just nod, warily, quietly, at your response and quickly think of a way to change the subject.

Instead of giving away the conversation and letting it slide into other people’s thought bubbles, then, you can steer the dialogue back to the original question, and the feel-good answer you’ve prepared instead.

“I take care of people’s teeth.”

You’re a regular Mother Theresa now, aren’t you? The way you dedicate your life’s work to helping others, it’s so freaking noble. This response elicits a smile of comfort and familiarity from your obligatory small-talk partner. The conversation can move forward now that your profession has been deemed socially acceptable.

An hour later, driving home, you’re blissfully alone with your thoughts, rewinding your earlier social interactivity, musing over the highlights, and you really, deeply, ask yourself in hindsight, “what do I do?”

I can’t speak for dentists, but if you’re a dental hygienist, you do some pretty strange things, actually.

First of all, perfection to you is wave-shaped. It’s the curve of a thin scallop of attached pinkness that anoints each interproximal space with a coral-tipped point of the healthiest gingiva imaginable. Anything less than this in your patients’ mouths is limbo. Chaos is the reason your job exists, but you always hunger for order and balance. To achieve this imagined perfection in a mouth that is not optimal, then, means that you often resort to some diversions along the way. It’s about the journey, not the destination, right?

How do you handle the patient whose lower anterior linguals are piled with a couple of grams of Grade A calcium phosphate? Sure, you could just chunk the calculus off. But sometimes, when you’re feeling a little dastardly, you carve out the top and the bottom of the tartar evenly, so that you’ve left a neat chalky white mustache, complete with curlicues. With artistic satisfaction, you turn your attention back to your duty and politely erase the Banksy-esque dental graffiti from your patient’s teeth.

This is not something you tell people that you do.

You also tell no one that your deepest fear is running into anything artificial while you’re cleaning someone’s teeth. Your ultrasonic scaler turns into a fierce lead pencil in those situations, which means not only that you are wearing down your precious metal antennae into useless nubs, but also that you’re leaving dark lines where there was once only whiteness. Every last bit of old orthodontic cement has now been revealed like a charcoal rubbing, thanks to you. And you would never admit to leaving a grey streak on a brand new porcelain crown. How could you slip like that? You hope like heck that the prophy paste will get that scary line off before anyone notices.

When it comes to things that you enjoy, then, there’s a bit of hesitation about sharing those stories as well. Like hovering around the periapical abcess that’s begging to be relieved? Or when you’re spraying baking soda slurry under a bridge and the patient becomes aware that its odor speaks more than the thousand words that you could ever say about superfloss? To you the stink is like scoring a point. Or why your trophy at the end of a particularly difficult appointment is a 2×2 gauze loaded with something that looks like buckshot, but is really your patient’s carefully extracted calculus? Fun times.

Probably the most difficult part of your career, though, has to do with patient management. Unless you’re regularly disengaging people from their mouths via nitrous oxide, there are forceful tongues, and lip pulls, and saliva ropes, and people who forget that it’s safe to swallow their own spit. Suck. Suck. Suck. Ten times a minute. At least this way they’re remembering to breathe. When they forget to breathe they feel like they are drowning. It’s not the water; they’re just suffocating because you’re blocking any chance of mouth breathing. Never mind that noses are much more optimal for breathing but whatever. Not everyone has learned how to snorkel either. And how do you convince patients that unless they just ate a handful of almonds, brushing immediately before their dental appointment won’t make your task any easier?

Then there are the patients themselves. Not just their mouths, but the whole person. Patients whose embarrassment about their teeth are the reason they haven’t been to a dentist in a while. People who not only open their mouths but open up to you, tell you their secrets, their fears, their wishes and hopes. People who trust you to take care of them, to love them, to nurture them towards health. They see something special in your eyes, and they open wide.

So go ahead and make it known out there in the big world that you’re hygienist. Or a dentist. You scale teeth. You drill teeth. No biggie. That’s what you do.

What really matters, though, are the reasons why.

Trish Walraven RDH, BSDH is a mom and practicing dental hygienist in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas. She is a bit of an an introvert when she’s writing dental articles, but you get her together with her best friend from high school and Irish festival beer and she begins to make faces like this. She also makes faces like this under her mask if her patients aren’t paying attention to her flossing instructions.

Now… don’t let the title of this piece make you cower into your stinky underpants drawer.

My intention is to simply explain the importance of why you lovely patients must floss your teeth. After seven years of clinical experience and seeing the outcome of a non-flossing lifestyle, my hope is that those reading this highly important dental topic will gain the vital understanding of flossing and how gum disease will affect your life.

Let’s start by me asking for your full attention by you getting your crusty, Starbucks-stained teeth out of your $8.00 latte you really can’t afford but feel the urge to economically consume every, single morning before you go to your soon-to-be outsourced job that just increased your dental insurance premium for a minute because here’s what I have to tell you.

Are you ready? Good.

If you don’t floss your gums will become a festering, disease-ridden, smorgasbord of unrelenting bacteria that will ultimately make your gingivae bleed in buckets every, single day of your life. If you don’t floss your gums you will spend thousands (I’m not kidding) of dollars to simply control the incurable disease (and it is a disease) that you have let build up over years and years of utter neglect.

Exudate will ooze out from underneath your gums and after questioning by the clinical professional (How YOU doin’?) the finding(s) will be defined as ‘asymptomatic’. That is, you will feel no pain. What you will feel is the false sense of dental health with the perpetual lie you keep telling yourself when you think, “It doesn’t hurt,” while the blood-filled pus continues to bubble and percolate underneath your gums.

Allow me to continue.

Your social life will remain that of the lonely-lived bachelor/bachelorette whose breath completely, I mean, completely reeks so intensely, you will have no realistic chance of any dating prospects. You will continue to waste money on the premium whitening kits at your local store to give off the illusion of a healthy mouth in the hopes of attracting a mate. Your highly offensive, (Not joking. It’s awful.) metallic-smelling breath from your lack of flossing is so oppressive no one will want to kiss you nor come within five feet of you. (Yes. The odor is that strong.) And we can still smell it through the masks we wear. Sorry.

Once your teeth become mobile, or loose, from the lack of flossing and the prolific bacteria eating away at your bone that supports your teeth, then, and only then, will you notice and mention the finding to your dentist and/or dental hygienist. (Hey, that’s me!) You will hear the word ‘unsalvageable’. You may even hear the word ‘hopeless’. That means your loose tooth/teeth will have to be pulled out from your rotting mouth because you were lazy and didn’t floss.

You’ve just lost your tooth… which could have been prevented if you only had used that little piece of string.

First things first: yes, this “whispering” phenomenon has invaded every niche of our well-being. It all started in a novel with just this one guy, he whispered to horses, then Cesar Millan got famous shushing dogs on TV. There are book whisperers, baby whisperers, ghost whisperers. OMG, there’s even a Bra Whisperer if you need someone to speak quietly with you or your wife’s upper anatomy.

So I just realized the other day that, I am, in fact, the gum whisperer.

Is it because I’m the world’s utmost authority on periodontal disease? Do I have such a kingdom of knowledge that it only makes sense to become an intellectual philanthropist to my patients and can cure them of every infirmity that sits just inside their lip line? Do my mad hand skills mean that I can strip only the glue off of a postage stamp with a Gracey 13/14 while it’s still stuck to an envelope behind my back as PROOF of my superior subgingival scaling abilities?

No.

I am the gum whisperer because… I actually whisper to people’s gums.

“Hang in there, interproximal gingiva! Give that #5 an extra squeeze for me today because that class II mobility is making my probe shake.”

When you’ve given up trying to convince the lifelong smoker that nicotine is his enemy, sometimes it’s just time to try a new approach. Maybe the person attached to those gums will think you’ve gone a little cray-cray, or maybe, just maybe, they might realize that you’ve started digging into your bag of desperation because they just don’t want to hear what you have to say. They’d like to give you their problem instead of dealing with it themselves.

Years ago, I took care of a patient that was into visualization, in a new-agey kind of way. She asked me to paint pictures and describe what healing needed to take place in her gums, so that she could create a pathway for sending her healing energy into the periodontium. I dunno, it was kind of soothing for me, too.

So occasionally I’ll speak softly to a patient as I’m nudging their gums, kind of like scratching a dog’s belly, “You like that, yes you do, yes you do!” Well, not that silly — definitely more clinical-minded because really, I don’t want people to start asking me to read their auras or anything like that.

Please let me know if you’ve found yourself talking to teeth, tongues, whatever body parts have engaged your healing linguistics, so that I don’t feel so all alone in this situation. And if I really am crazy, then it’s probably best not to let me in on the truth.

Originally published in the May 2012 British print magazine Dental Hygiene and Therapy, this article was written as a snapshot of life as a hygienist in these United States, delivered as a postcard to the UK, and corrected to their spelling preferences. So if your spell-check throws up all over this piece, just remember, the intended audience is civilised hygienists and dental therapists.

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by Trish Walraven

I live in Texas, and work in a box.

Well, not really. But at the same time, really! This box, like most boxes, has four walls. There’s a ceiling and a floor, too, but those aren’t what drive this story. It’s all about the walls. When I look at the walls, instead of trying to climb one (or get driven up one!) my inner designer starts its analysis. What decorations help to make this box more enjoyable?

Most importantly, there’s a patient in the centre of my box.

So there’s a sky blue wall behind me as I’m facing the patient. This is the dental hygienist scope of practice in the state of Texas. You’ll notice the sleek steel shelf hung firmly on that wall that lets me provide all hygiene services – even when the doctor is away. On that shelf are my preventive allowances: pit and fissure sealants, fluoride treatments, periodontal therapy, temporary fillings, restoration polishing, and even a flashing snowglobe of laser-assisted bacterial decontamination. This wall is also marked by an ugly patched-up area. If you pulled off the patch, you’d find a pretty big hole, left by a restriction that the Texas laws place on the administration of local anaesthesia by hygienists. Texas is in that 10% of the US where a handful of Board dentists hold the rest of their profession hostage with this issue. It seems to deflect attention from those other efforts that will give hygienists better governance over their work lives but, for now, it is difficult to get the laws changed in favour of hygienists. The patch is cool, though. It’s made up of an intense pharmacy-compounded topical gel that I use on my patient when she needs scaling and root planing. It’s not perfect, but it does keep the dentist from having to stop what he’s doing to anaesthetise her, and she loves that there is no post-injection pain and lingering numbness afterwards.

Which brings me to the second wall: a green-means-go fluorescent mural featuring a hot pink clock. It flashes the amount of time I have with my patient: 30 minutes! And that’s if she’s on periodontal maintenance or has staining. If she’s healthy or a child the clock starts ticking at 20. Everything mounted to this wall is geared towards squeezing the most out of every moment. Ultrasonic tips? The thinnest, curviest ones available, and enjoyed even by my youngest patient because they knock off every bit of calculus and plaque at a range of comfortable settings. Baking soda jet polisher? Much faster than the rotary polishing cup and paste. Oral hygiene advice? Suggested as I’m performing the initial examination and demonstrated later with a hand-held mirror and floss. Assistants instantly appear to chart and record probing depths with the click of a mouse, loupes and a headlamp keep me from having to reach up and change the overhead light position. I am a master of efficiency.

The third wall is a more subtle shade of green. It’s the one with all the niches and windows, with family photos and favourite mementos left by patients. I love this wall the most because it lets me see the world outside. One of the windows faces the reception room. The room is empty – not because we don’t have patients, but because none of my patients ever have to wait there, thanks to a well-coordinated team using custom-designed communication with audible BlueNotes that chime as soon as a treatment room is open, or when a patient arrives, or when the dentist needs supplies because of an unanticipated event. This kind of empty reception room can be found in all corners of the world. Many practices are now implementing this idea – a spark that came out of my brain and then became a computer programme. I am proud of helping to shape the world outside my box.

The final wall is painted metallic gold, with the words ‘Preferred Provider’ stencilled in black all along the baseboards. From this wall emerges a door into a second operatory where a dedicated hygiene assistant is waiting with my next patient. I’ll see him and then move back in here once my services are complete. I’ll also use my diagnostic skills to let the patient know the doctor will be recommending a crown on one tooth, a bridge in the opposite quadrant. Focusing on treatment plan acceptance and dollars on the doctor’s bottom line is how I make up for the 30% or more discount patients receive in this middle tier of managed care here in the US. And it’s how I earn all those glittery stars on the wall: my home, a car, vacation time, designer handbags.

I like my box just fine. But if I had my own way, the walls would be different. Maybe they would all be windows.

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DentalBuzz explores rising trends in dentistry with its own slant. The speed at which new products and ideas enter the dental field can often outpace our ability to understand just exactly the direction in which we are heading. But somehow, by being a little less serious about dentistry and dental care, we might get closer to making sense of it all.

So yeah, a tongue-in-cheek pun would fit really nicely here, but that would be in bad taste. Never mind, it just happened anyways. Stop reading sidebars already and click on some content instead.

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